Table 1.

Key characteristics of the datasets used in the analysis

Country	Type	Years	Census date	Geographic coverage	Ages included	Number of deaths	Number of person years
Finland	Longitudinal	Dec 31, 1970 to Dec 31, 1980	31.12.1970	National	35–79	310,253	19,401,076
		Dec 31, 1980 to Dec 31, 1990	31.12.1980			297,925	22,132,564
		Dec 31, 1990 to Dec 31, 2000	31.12.1990			271,246	25,148,551
		Dec 31, 2000 to Dec 31, 2010	31.12.2000			247,441	27,446,463
Norway	Longitudinal	Nov, 1970 to Dec, 1980	Nov, 1970	National	40–79	237,790	14,097,453
		Nov, 1980 to Dec, 1990	Nov, 1980			235,645	13,804,407
		Nov, 1990 to Dec, 2001	Nov, 1990			227,996	16,372,733
		Nov, 2001 to Dec, 2009	Nov, 2001			133,675	14,050,440
England/Wales	Longitudinal	Apr 25, 1971 to Apr 4,1981	25.4. 1971	National	35–79	40,543	2,315,725
		Apr 5, 1981 to Apr 20,1991	5.4.1981			36,715	2,453,660
		Apr 21, 1991 to Apr 28, 2001	21.4.1991			31,472	2,579,226
		Apr 29, 2001 to Dec 31, 2009	29.4. 2001			22,009	2,431,057
France	Longitudinal	10.1.1975 to 9.1.1982	10.1.1975	National	35–79	16,940	1,397,501
		10.1.1982 to 9.1.1990	10.1.1982			19,236	1,689,497
		10.1.1990 to 9.1.1999	10.1.1990			19,331	2,113,937
		10.1.1999 to 31.12.2007	10.1.1999			15,663	1,745,199
Italy (Turin)	Longitudinal	Oct 24, 1971 to Oct 24, 1981	24.10.1971	City	35–79	58,426	4,689,534
		Oct 25, 1981 to Oct 19, 1991	25.10.1981			56,947	5,118,272
		Oct 20, 1991 to Oct 20, 2001	20.10.1991			46,181	4,736,315
		Oct 21, 2001 to Dec 31, 2010	21.10.2001			35,056	4,283,032
Hungary	CS, unlinked	1971–1974	1.1.1973	National	35–79	340,511	19,754,780
		1978–1981	1.1.1980			393,590	20,180,700
		1988–1991	1990			385,974	20,576,688
		1999–2002	2001			369,773	21,031,348

Data from England and Wales and France concern a 1% representative sample of the total population

In France, only those born in mainland France were included (excluding overseas territories and abroad)

CS cross-sectional